Celebrating the Polish Presidency

of the Council of the European Union

Consulate General of the Republic of

has the pleasure to invite you to the piano recital

Drive Blues Avant Garde Music by Polish and International Composers

by Polish pianist

Anna Kijanowska

on Friday, 12th August 2011, at 7.00 for 7.30 pm.

at the Consulate (10 Trelawney St, Woollahra)

Free admission – RSVP is essential. Tickets can be reserved either by phone on (02) 9363 9816 or by e-mail at . General admission tickets will be allocated on a first-come basis.

Anna Kijanowska returns to Australia after her successful 2010 concert tour. The programme of Drive Blues includes works by Polish composers Hanna Kulenty, Grażyna Bacewicz, Wojciech Kilar and , as well as by Lei Liang, Avner Dorman, Sophia Serghi and Hannibal. Hailed by The New York Times (2007) as "An excellent young Polish pianist," Anna Kijanowska (key-en-OFF-ska) has distinguished herself internationally as a recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist. A devoted promoter of the music of , her recording of his Mazurkas has already gained substantial recognition and was recently named by Adrian Corleonis of Fanfare Magazine "as superior to any other interpretations that came before or after hers." Mr. Muse of the Classik Reviews called the performance a "revelation," while Mr. Leonard of All Music Guide noted, "Kijanowska's performances are amazingly virtuosic, astonishingly charismatic, astoundingly empathic and completely compelling." Anna Kijanowska’s past and upcoming engagements include solo recitals at Carnegie and Merkin Halls in NYC, the National Gallery of Arts and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Harvard University in Boston, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, North-West University in South Africa, the French Institute in New Delhi, India, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and La Salle School of Music in Singapore, the Polish Embassies in Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok and Canberra, Chinese Conservatory in Beijing, and orchestral appearances in Brazil, the Ukraine and Poland (Piano Concerti by Lutoslawski and Gorecki). As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with such eminent performers as Charles Castleman, Diane Monroe and Basil Vendryes. Anna Kijanowska began her musical education in Poland at the age of seven, and gave her first recital at age eight. In 1992, she entered the Szymanowski Music Academy in Katowice, where she studied with Prof. Jozef Stompel. After receiving her Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the Music Academy in Wroclaw, she was awarded a scholarship to study with Dr. Madeleine Forte (pupil of Alfred Cortot and Wilhelm Kempff) at Boise State University in the United States. She holds a Doctorate and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where she studied with Byron Janis (pupil of Vladimir Horowitz), Mykola Suk (pupil of Lev Vlasenko), Sara Davis Buechner (pupil of Mieczyslaw Munz) and Marc Silverman. Ms. Kijanowska is currently on the faculty of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and is a former faculty member of the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and the Levine School of Music in Washington DC.

Recordings

2006 Acte Préalable, Flute Solo and Duo with Piano by Franz and Karl Doppler 2005 DUX Recording Producers, Complete Piano Mazurkas of Karol Szymanowski

Competitions and Awards

2007 Kosciuszko Foundation Scholarship for "An Homage to Szymanowski Concert," New York, NY 2005 Kosciuszko Foundation Recording Grant, New York, NY 1999-2001 Jewish Foundation for Education of Women 1997 Third Prize, MTNA Collegiate Artist National Convention, Dallas, TX 1996 First Prize, MTNA Collegiate Artist Competition, Portland, OR 1996 First Prize, ITNA Collegiate Artist State Competition, Boise, ID 1996 Second Prize, Trofeo Sixth International Competition, Italy 1996 Batory Foundation Award, , Poland